The bronze rabbit sculpture "J.R. Little Spring" sits on a bench at Peoria's Sweetwater Park. Photo: Jeremy Duda/Axios
Last week's "Where in the Valley" depicted a bronze sculpture at Peoria's Sweetwater Park of an anthropomorphic jackrabbit sitting on a bench.
Zoom in: A plaque next to the bench identified the sculpture as "J.R. Little Spring" by artist Michele vandenHeuvel, installed in 2001.
VandenHeuvel's website explains: "He wears his fancy vest, hat, and bolo tie; his turtle watch is in his vest pocket."
The 5-foot rabbit is part of her "seek and find explorable interactive sculpture series."
Jeremy's thought bubble: I initially thought the sculpture was a dog, and I debated via email with a reader who believed it to be a bear.
Due to the shadows that blanketed the sculpture, I thought the telltale rodent teeth protruding from its mouth was a tongue, which led me to my mistaken conclusion.
The well-lit photos on vandenHeuvel's website make it more apparent than my shadowed pic that "J.R. Little Spring" is, in fact, a rabbit.
